


100 Themes: Hallownest Edition

by Vantalar



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: 100 Themes Challenge, Gen, I can't do descriptions either, Short Stories, i don't know how to tag, i'll add tags as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-05 23:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16376873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vantalar/pseuds/Vantalar
Summary: I found this cool art/writing challenge called the 100 Themes Challenge, originating from Deviantart, and I thought I'd bring it to the Hollow Knight fandom. I'll be using variation 1 of the challenge.Have fun reading my first fanfic! (even though it probably won't be that good)





	100 Themes: Hallownest Edition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ghost is introduced to Mr. Creepy McCreepface. A.K.A. Troupe Master Grimm.

 

The Howling Cliffs. A rocky landscape high above the rest of Hallownest, filled with the sound of the wind after which it was named. The only bits of life to be seen are a few vengeflies or crawlids here and there. But, as with the rest of the fallen kingdom, the Cliffs have their own secrets to hide.

For example, at the top of the cliffs nearer to Hallownest, there is a small hut, sheltered by a cave from the winds above and home to the Nailmaster Mato. It was there that I learned and mastered the Cyclone Slash, a valuable addition to my arsenal.

There is also a network of winding tunnels leading to a cave filled with the aura of Lifeblood, the place called Joni's Repose. It was there that I found the charm Joni's Blessing and met her ghost (and put it to rest with the Dream Nail.)

It was through these cliffs, and through the King's Pass, that I first came to Hallownest. At least I think I did. My memory is a bit fuzzy from wandering through the barren wastelands below.

And it is here that I am exploring now, for the third time (not including when I first arrived at Hallownest), after unwittingly coming through a tunnel in the north of Greenpath while exploring, emerging into howling winds that blow sand in my mask and drive me back to to the rocks rising behind me. So I decided that while I was here, I might as well try to find anything I missed last time. And that's what I'm doing. Climbing up and down rocks, jumping from platform to platform to try to find anything of interest.

As I jump up into a small cave, I find a whispering root. The bulb-mandala things on the end of its branches start glowing, and I strike it with the Dream Nail. As usual, the branches bend upwards, and a myriad of large red orbs of essence spread outwards in all directions.

As I go around collecting the essence, I notice that a small portion of one of the flatter sections of rock is cracked and unstable-looking. Remembering that these kinds of surfaces will easily fall to my nail, I go to it and hit it a couple of times until it breaks down completely. My coiled nail, of course, has been reinforced with Pale Ore several times now, and takes no damage from this.

Behind the broken barrier, there is a small pit leading downwards, and across the pit from me is a small room with a large egg-shaped object in it. The egg-thing has a smooth flat surface on it. I jump over the pit, and words flare to life on the flat part of the rock, wreathed by white SOUL energy.

_Higher beings, these words are for you alone._

_These blasted plains stretch never-ending. There is no world beyond._

_Those foolish enough to traverse this void must pay the toll and relinquish the precious mind this kingdom grants._

Well that explains why I can't remember anything from before my time in the wastelands. I turn around and jump into the pit I passed over just a second ago. The first thing I notice is the body of a bug, obviously long-dead, and the wanderer's journal lying on the ground next to it. I pick up the journal, and then I Dream Nail the body. I hear nothing. The next thing I notice is that there are some wooden beams supporting a section of the wall. I break them down with my nail, and the wall falls down. I exit the room, coming out slightly below the cracked wall I just destroyed.

But I feel like I'm missing something. I turn back around and reenter the room. And indeed I was, because just across from the entrance, there is another cracked wall. I didn't notice it the first time because it was hidden in shadow. I smash it into rubble with a Vengeful Spirit, and enter the tunnel hidden behind it.

As I'm walking through the tunnel, I notice a few strange-looking torches along the sides, dark and cold. They obviously haven't been used for a while. Up ahead the tunnel emerges into a large room with a few more of these unlit torches in the corners. It seems to be more purposefully constructed than the passage behind, having several arching pillars along the walls. In the center of the room, there is a piece of rubble, as tall as I am, that looks to be the base of a much larger version of the other torches I saw. On one side of this strange room, there is a small fissure in the wall, just large enough for me to squeeze through. Behind it, another short tunnel leads to a little cave.

In the cave is the corpse of a very large bug, wearing a red hood and a very strange looking mask. I'm curious about it (as curious as an emotionless creature with almost no sense of self can be, that is), but also cautious, so the first thing I do is pull out my Dream Nail and strike the corpse. Just in case it's still alive and wants to attack me. When the Nail makes contact with the body, dozens of dream motes explode outwards to hang in the air, both in this cave and the one behind. But these dream motes are not the usual gold-white color that I'm used to. Instead, they are a deep, crimson red.

A red glow emanates from the room I came from. When I squeeze back through the fissure in the wall, I am met with an unexpected sight. In the center of the cave the crumbling piece of rubble has been replace with a giant torch more than three times my height. At its base there is a cage full of embers. Something compels me to strike it with my nail. When I do so, sparks fly from the cage. I do it again. And again. Each time I hit it, more and more sparks are released, until eventually they stop completely. I hit it a few more times. No sparks.

As I step back to see if anything else might happen, sparks start to rise from the top of the large torch. Suddenly, pillars of unnatural scarlet flame erupt from the tips of every torch in the room simultaneously, before dying down to small flames. A few seconds later, the room starts shaking violently, dust and small rocks raining from the ceiling. Strange music begins to echo from above, passing overhead. The room stops shaking, and everything is silent again, save for the quiet crackling of the torches.

* * *

 As I'm returning to Dirtmouth, I am greeted with the sight of two large red tents sitting just outside of the town. In front of the larger of the tents, two long-necked bugs are laying on the ground, their legs tucked neatly under them. They look similar to Willoh, the bug I met in Queen's Station, but these ones' masks each have two black lines, starting from the top of the mask and going straight through their eyes, down to the bottom. It is a similar design to the mask of the large corpse that I found in the Howling Cliffs.

Music similar to what played when I lit the torch is coming from the inside of the large tent. As I go inside, the two long-necked bugs look at me with unreadable expressions. Inside the entrance there is a hallway, made of the same red fabric as the tent itself. No surprise there. About halfway down the corridor, I come across a medium-sized bug wearing red and black clothing. He bears the same style of mask as the bugs laying just outside. The origin of the music is now evident, because he is playing a very strange-looking instrument that seems to produce music as he squeezes and stretches it. He sways side to side in a lively manner, in time with the music. His face doesn't look very lively though.

_Hello,_ I project to him.

He keeps playing his music. "Mrmm. You called us? Speak to Master," he says.

_And where would I go to accomplish this?_ I ask him.

He gestures with his head towards the other end of the hallway we are in. I keep walking.

The hall opens up into a large chamber. It seems a lot bigger on the inside than it did when I saw the outside of the tent. To either side the walls are wreathed in shadow, but the center of the room is fairly well lit. On wall opposite from where I came from there is a barred door.

I start to walk through the room to investigate what the door could be. When I reach the center, loud music starts to play. Two red lights turn on somewhere in the ceiling and start to sweep around the floor in a theatrical fashion. Suddenly, the lights focus on a point a few feet in front of me, and a tall figure appears in a burst of scarlet flame, facing away from me. The bug is wrapped in a long dark-colored cloak, but I can see that it is red on the inside. The bug's horns are short and black, pointing upwards at an angle. Most of its head is black too, save for what appears to be a white mask on the front. The bug is facing away from me, so I cannot tell what the mask looks like.

"So it was you who summoned us," speaks a low, rasping voice. It takes me a moment to realize that it is coming from the bug in front of me, his voice obviously stating him as a male.

I nod slowly.

His head turns slightly, allowing me to catch a glimpse of one side of his mask. A single red eye, slanted, with a black outline contrasting it from the white mask. And a black line, starting at the top of the mask and striking straight down through the eye to the bottom. I assume that this outlandish design is copied on the other side. A fearsome appearance, indeed.

He speaks again. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Grimm, Master of this Troupe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is my first chapter, (and technically my first work), I don't have much experience with writing, so make sure to let me know what you think!
> 
> I wasn't sure how I would do the theme of introduction in the world of Hollow Knight, especially through the eyes of a (pretty much) emotionless vessel. So I decided to go with a literal introduction. And who better for that than the nightmarish Troupe Master himself, Grimm?
> 
> (My headcanon is that any trace of possible feeling or sense of self Ghost has is erased when they get the Void Heart, even though they're more hollow than the Pure Vessel before it. But they aren't completely emotionless before that. Almost, but not quite. And that is why the aftermath of the "Hollow Knight" ending is doomed to failure.)


End file.
